Door seal



O 14, 1 K. L. PRlTCHARD 2,855,989

D0012 SEAL Filed April 26, 195'? 5 Sheets-Sheet l i INVENTOR a 1, Kennefh L. Pr/fchard i BY J 7 A TTOR N875 Oct. 14, 1958 K. PRITCHARD DOOR'SEAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 195'? lllll INVENTOR Kennefh L. Pr/fchara AIITORNEYS Oct. 14, 1958 K. L. PRITCHARD 2,855,989

DOOR SEAL I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 26, 195'? I INVENTOR Kenna/h L. Pr/fc/ ard ATTORNEYS DOOR SEAL Kenneth L. Pritchard, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Duralite Manufacturing Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application April 26, 1957, Serial No. 655,237

Claims. (Cl. 160-40) This invention relates to a door seal and more particularly to a door seal having particular utility in connection with overhead doors adapted to be used in trucks, trailers, and the like.

Use of overhead type doors in large trucks and trailers permits them to be parked close together at a loading dock and close to the loading dock since the doors do not swing outwardly from the truck body or trailer. This conventionally run in tracks, freedom of movement with respect to any seal structure employed at the door opening is required in order to enable the door to be raised or lowered readily. Insofar as I am aware, this freedom of movement has generally been obtained by moving the door inwardly with respect to the seal structure as the door is opened to thereby free the door from dragging on the seal. Conversely, when the door is closed, it is moved against the seal. However, once a truck or trailer is loaded and the door closed, shifting of the cargo to the rear of the truck can result in binding the door against the seal so that it becomes extremely ditficult to raise the door. The present invention overcomes this problem and, in general, provides an effective watertight and lighttight seal for overhead doors.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a new and improved door seal for overhead doors of the type adapted to be used on trucks and trailers.

It is another object of my invention to provide such a door seal which can be quickly and efficiently disengaged from sealing engagement with the door regardless of forces tending to press the door toward the seal.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a door seal wherein the seal may be moved and locked swiftly into sealing engagement with the door.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a door seal wherein a uniform sealing pressure is applied to the sealing member throughout its entire length.

Briefly described, a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a door seal structure wherein an elongated sealing member is supported and guided for substantially horizontal movement toward and away from the outer surface of the overhead door when the door is in its closed position. A vertically disposed actuating member is located between the sealing member and a stationary surface, such as a surface of a rear corner post of a truck or trailer body. This actuating member is capable of vertical movement relative to the sealing member. Also, the surfaces of the. sealing member and actuating member which face each other are provided with inclined cam surfaces at a suitable number of locations along their respective lengths.

An eccentric pin assembly is arranged to impart reciprocating vertical movement to the actuating member which is translated into substantially horizontal movement of the sealing member by the inter-engagement of the respective inclined cam surfaces. The range of horizontal movement of the sealing member is such that, in its released position, it is located in spaced relationship from the door surface, thus eliminating the possibility of any binding between the seal and door which might be occasioned by a shifting of the load within the cargo compartment.

Other objects and features of my invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a rear view of a truck or trailer body provided with a door seal according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the body of Fig. 1 taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of portions of the sealing mechanism shown in Fig. 2 with certain parts omitted, broken away, or shown in section to more clearly illustrate portions of the structure;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view through the corner post of the body of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 being a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1 but showing the sealing assembly in its released position;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 4 and taken on line 55 of Fig. 1 showing the sealing assembly in its sealing position; and i Fig. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Inasmuch as the present invention has particular utility in connection with overhead doors for trucks or trailers, although it is not limited solely thereto, the drawings show the door seal structure as employed on a truck or trailer body designated generally by the reference numeral 10. At the rear of body 10, two vertically disposed corner posts 12 and 14 are provided as part of the frame of body 10 and further serve to define the sides of the door opening which may be closed by an overhead door 16 of conventional construction. Door 16 includes a plurality of horizontally extending segments 18 which are hingedly coupled to each other by conventional means, not shown. Door 16 is guided in movement relative to the body 10 by a plurality of rotatable rollers 20 (see Figs. 4 and 5) which are engaged within channel-shaped tracks 22 fixedly secured, as by welding, to the side walls of body 10. In the usual case, a spring driven roller and cable assembly indicated generally at 24 is employed to counter-balance the weight of the door.

My invention is especially directed to structure employed to seal the vertical side edges of door 16. Since the seal assembly is the same at both side edges of door 16, only the seal assembly associated with corner post 12 will be described in detail, it being understood that a similar assembly will be associated with corner post 14.

Corner post 12 may be conveniently formed from an elongated strip of angle iron, the rearwardmost leg 26 being provided with an inturned flange portion 28. A second vertically extending angle member 30 is secured to the inner surface of leg 26 and, with flange 28, defines a vertically extending guide channel extending substan-' tially the entire length of the inner surface of leg 26. An elongated channel-shaped sealing member 32 is received within the guiding channel defined by angle member 30 and flange 28 and extends upwardly from the lower end of the guide channel to a location beyond the upper end of door 16 (see Fig. 2)'

"A"'resili'ent sealing strip 34' of suitable construction is secured along the inner surface of" sealing element 32 for sealing engagement with door 16 as shown in Fig. 5. Sealing element 32 is supported within the guide channel-by apa'ir'bf pins'36 1(seef'Fig. 2) which extend inwardly respectively from .a'ng'le'"m'embe1?30 and flange 28 i'rito lior'iz'ontal's'lots 38 formed finfleachdeg'bf member"32l adjacent Tits'ifupper end. Thep'in andslot conn'e'cti'on' supports'm'ember 32 withinthe gttide channel for horizontalmovement toward and 'away from sealing engagement with do'or'16. Suitable means, such as tension 'spri'ngs'39 may be' employed to bias-member" 32 toward its retra'ctedfposition.

Sealing'r'nember' H is provided with a longitudinally e'xt'endingcam member 40 which is fixedly secured to itsinn'er'surface. As best seen in'FigsQ' 2 and 3, cam memben-40 is-provided with a pluralityof rearwar'dly Projecting iriclined cam surfaces '42 which are located at spaced positionsIalong cam member' iti.

'Cam" s'u'rfacesZZ are located for sliding engagement with complementary inclined cam surfaces id-which are formed on the inner surface of an elongated actuating member 46. 1 Member .46 is located withinthe guide channel defined by .anglemember 30 and flange 28 and is maintained in position by-a= rearwardly projecting-aintegral lug48 whichpr ojects :throughaslot 50 provided in leg" 26 of corner .postl12. (See Figs. 4-6). Actuating member 46 is reciprocated vertically by manual operation of an actuating arm 52 which is,- pivoted for rotation about a pivot pin 54 supportedin an car 56 fixedto .cor ner post 12. .A second pivot pin 58 is fixed to hub 60 of arm 52-and projects from hub 60'through slot62'in lug 48. The eccentric location of pin 58 with respect to the axisdefined by the pivot pin 54 translates rotary movement of actuating arm 52 into vertical movement of actuating member 46. A fixedkeeper member is mountedupon corner post 12 to maintain actuating arm 52 in its lowermost position, this being the position-of the arm when the seal is located in the sealing position shown in Fig. 5.

Operation of the sealingassembly is as follows: When done 16 is moved to its closed position, the sealing assemblies associated with both corner posts 12- and 14 will bein their normal or-non-sealing position with the variousv parts disclosed in the positions shown in :Figs. 4 and 6. Actuatingarm 52will be locatedtin asubstantially horizontal position,'sealing'member 32 will-rbe located clear-of the dooras shown in Fig. 4,1andactuatingmember-AG will be'in its lowermost position.

QTo move sealing member 32 into sealing engagement with door -16,-'actuating arm 52 is manually rotated about pin 54in a counter-clockwise directionfrom the position shown in" Fig. 6. As arm 52 is rotated in this direction, pin 58 is likewise rotated in a counter-clockwise direction-about the axis defined by'pin 54. The vertical componentofthis rotary movement'istransmitted by engagement of pin 58 with the walls-of 'slot 62 into upward vertical movement of actuating member 46, no horizontal component being transmitted to member 46 by reason of the-horizontal elongation of slot-62. Upward movement of actuating member 46 is translated into horizontal movement of sealing member 32 by the inner engagement of theinclined camfaces 44 and 42. Since actuating member 46 cannot move rearwardly because of the engagement of the rear surface of member 46 with the inner surface of leg 26, actuatingmember 32'is cammed horizontally intofirm sealing engagement with the outer surface of door 16 asshown in Fig. of the drawings. Upward vertical movement of sealing member 32: is prevented by the engagement of pins 36 with slots 38'in the legs of sealing member 32.- Counterclockwise rotation of actuating arm 52'is-continued'until the armis disposed in the positionishown in'Fig; 2'in which it may be engaged with:keeper member 64 tohold the various parts in their sealingrelationship.

4 The sealing stroke of sealing member 32 is selected to be such that at the sealing end of the stroke, sealing element 34 is compressed in the manner shown in Fig. 5 to achieve a watertight and light-tight seal between member 32 and the outer surface of door 16. As shown in Fig. 5, this engagement is selected to be firm enough to take up any lost motion which may be present be-- tween rollers 20 and tracks 22. When the parts are disposed in their sealing position, pin 58 is located in substantial horizontal alignment with-pin 54. Itwillbe notedthat regardless of the magnitude of the force created by any rearward shifting of the truck "'or trailer load, the seal may be quickly and simply released. In fact, the forces created by rearward shifting of the load actually assist in releasing the seal.

While I have described one exemplary structural embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that-the disclosedembodiment is capable of modification. .Therefore the foregoingndescriptionZis to be consideredexemplary ratherthanlimiting and the true scope of my invention is that defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an overhead door assembly for a truckflboclynor the like including a-pair of vertically disposed posts defining the sides of the door openingand an overhead door guided .in tracks mounted-inwardlyof said posts; a door seal assembly Imounted on:each of said posts :for1sealihg engagement with the outer-surfaceof saiddoor when said .door is' in its closed position, each ofsaid seal assemblies comprising a vertically-disposed.sealing member, means on the associated postsupportingssaid sealingmemher for horizontal movement toward and: away fronn the outer surface of said :door, a vertical. member mounted for vertical movement between said: sealing member and saidpost, cooperating .carn:means on'said sealing member and said vertical member for translating vertical mowement of said vertical..member.:into horizontal movement of-said sealing member, and eccentric handle m'ea'ns on said -post operatively connected to said -vertic-alm'einber for reciprocatingsaid verticalcmember vertically-with-respect to said post rto: thereby rnove -'sa'id'sealingmember intovand. out:of:sealing engagement with said-door in'dep6I1d8I1fly 0f-dOOl movementand without effectingtiubstantial displacementof the'door.

2. In an overhead door assembly for a truck body'or the likexincluding a'pair of vertically disposedpostsdefining the; .sidesv of .theidoor opening, and*-an' overheadd'oor guided in tracks mounted inwardly of saidbodyfirom saidiposts; a; door' seal assembly'mountedon each of said posts for sealing-engagement -withthe-outer surface of said door when-'said door-is in its closed position;said seal assembly comprising a verticallydisposed sealing membenmeans on the associated'post for guiding said sealing member in horizontal" movement 'only toward and away from-'the'outer surface'ofsaid doorfmeans'supporting-said L sealing member within said guiding means for. movement into and out-of'sealing engagement with said door, rearwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said sealing member, vertically reciprocable'rneans' on said post engageable-with said cam surfaces for moving said sealing member horizontally into'and out 'of sealing engagement-with said door 'and extraneous handle means i on "said post for-actuating said vertically recip ro'eable means, said last mention'edmeansincluding means for locking said"sealing'member in sealing engagement with said "door.

3.-In an 'overhead' door'assembly for a truck body or the like including apair of vertically disposed posts dcfining the sides of the 'door opening, and anover'nead door guided in tracks mountedinwardly of said posts, a door sealassernbly mounted on'each' of said posts for sealing engagement with the outer surface of said door when said door is in its'clos'ed position, said seal assembly compris ing a vertically disposed sealing member, means on the associated post for supporting said sealing member for horizontal movement toward and away from the outer surface of said door, a vertical member mounted for vertical movement between said sealing member and said post, rearwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said sealing member, complementary forwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said vertical member engageable with said cam surfaces on said sealing member to translate vertical movement of said vertical member into horizontal movement of said sealing member, and means on said post for reciprocating said vertical member vertically with respect to said post to thereby move said sealing member into and out of sealing engagement with said door independently of the position of said door and independently of any vibratory movement of said door.

4. In an overhead door assembly for a truck body or the like including a pair of vertically disposed posts defining the sides of the door opening, and an overhead door guided in tracks mounted inwardly of said posts; a door seal assembly mounted on each of said posts for sealing engagement with the outer surface of said door when said door is in its closed position, said seal assemblies each comprising a vertically disposed sealing member, means on the associated post for guiding said sealing member toward and away from the outer surface of said door, means supporting said sealing member within said guiding means for horizontal movement into and out of sealing engagement with said door, rearwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said sealing member, a vertical member mounted for vertical movement between said post and said sealing member and including forwardly facing inclined cam surfaces engageable with cam surfaces on said sealing member, said vertical member being movably supported upon said post and operable to drive said sealing member into sealing engagement with said door, eccentric means on the associated post for vertically actuating said vertical member, and means on the associated post for locking said sealing member in sealing engagement with said door.

5. In an overhead door assembly for a truck body or the like including a pair of vertically disposed posts defining the sides of the door opening, and an overhead door guided in tracks mounted inwardly of said posts; a door seal assembly mounted on each of said posts for sealing engagement with the outer surface of said door when said door is in its closed position, said seal assembly comprising a vertically disposed sealing member, means on the associated post for supporting said sealing member for movement toward and away from the outer surface of said door, a vertical member mounted for vertical movement between said sealing member and said post, rearwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said sealing member, complementary forwardly facing inclined cam surfaces on said vertical member engageable with said cam surfaces on said sealing member to force said sealing member into sealing engagement with the outer surface of said door upon vertical movement of said vertical member in one direction, said sealing member being releasable from sealing engagement with the outer surface of said door upon movement of said vertical member in the opposite direction, and means connected to said vertical member for moving said vertical member in said one direction to thereby move said sealing member into sealing engagement with said door, and releasable locking means for locking said vertical member against movement in said opposite direction from a position wherein said sealing member is in sealing engagement with said door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

